Friends Know
by Anorptron
Summary: (Set after Will tells Bess the truth about the car crash.) Something is on Elizabeth's mind, maybe she just needs a friend to talk to.


Conrad's eyes flickered over to Elizabeth who was currently chewing the inside of her cheek. It was a telltale sign that something was wrong.

He looked back over to an advisor of his who was talking about something, he had been paying attention, but Bess had caught his eye. Hearing the sound stop, and thinking back to the few words he had caught, Conrad decided that they had all been there long enough.

"We all have a lot to do, I'll let you all get to it." The dismissal was clear.

Everyone stood and bid him goodnight. They probably wouldn't have a chance to get started on the assignment till tomorrow afternoon, taking into account that is was well pass one in the morning, and that most of their days started at five.

"Elizabeth," Conrad called as everyone started to file out of the office. "May I have a word?"

She stopped in her tracks, "Of course, sir." She stepped to the side and walked over to him, both waiting quietly as the others left the Oval Office.

Once they heard the click of the door Conrad spoke again, "Let's go for a walk Bess." He said, wrapping his coat around himself as he walked over to the doors to the patio and opened them.

He walked out into the night with Elizabeth close behind, until she turned to close the door behind them.

Conrad waited for her to catch up to him before speaking, "Are you okay Bess?"

"I'm fine," She said quickly, barely having a moment of silence.

He chuckled softly, "I've been your friend for the better part of twenty years. I know when something's wrong."

She sighed, "Sometimes I wish you didn't know me so well."

"No you don't." He argued

"No I don't." She agreed.

Elizabeth looked down, "Will and his family are in town, they're actually going to move down here. He has an interview with a hospital today too."

Conrad remembered Bess's brother well, he had been arrogant, passionate and irresponsible. He hadn't liked the man, but had put up with him for Elizabeth's sake.

"How did you manage that?" He said with raised eyebrows.

She looked up at him, "It wasn't me. It was Sophie and my niece, they were going to leave him if he left again."

Conrad leaned against the pillar behind him, "That doesn't seem to be the reason you're upset." He pointed out.

She looked down again, "We got into a fight earlier, and he said something I didn't know."

The fight didn't surprise him, Elizabeth and Will could get into it at times.

Softly, he asked, "What did he say?"

"He said that our mother was alive a few minutes after the crash. That she didn't die on impact like I was told."

"Bess-"

"And now I can't stop thinking, 'what if I had been with them?', 'what if I had died instead?', what if-" She broke off as Conrad pulled her into a hug.

Making a split second decision, he wrapped his arms firmly around her. They had talked about her parents when they were younger, she never had gotten rid of the guilt that plagued her.

"Bess, there's nothing you could have done." He told her, his heart pounding. "What ifs won't change anything."

"I know," She said into his shoulder, "Still."

Conrad loosened his hold on her, a sadness had worked itself into his gaze.

"Bess, through all the years we've known each other, you've always chosen to bear burdens for someone else, or bare burdens that you think you should carry." He held up a hand to stop Elizabeth's protest, "Just this once, let someone else bare this burden. There is nothing that you can change by wishing."

A weary sigh was let out as she absorbed his words, he didn't look away from her as she stood there. A minute or two later she nodded slowly and looked back at him.

"That's harder than it sounds, Conrad." She told him, looking older than her years.

It was his turn to sigh, "I know, Bess. But promise me you'll try."

Elizabeth tilted her head, "I promise."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, both looking out on the rose garden. Conrad glanced over to Bess just in time to see her shiver from the cold.

He frowned slightly, "You ready to go in Bess?"

"Not yet," She answered, "Let's enjoy the quiet while we can."

He accepted her answer, but had no wish for her to standout side without a jacket. The President knew how easily she got sick from the cold.

Still frowning slightly, Conrad quietly shrugged off his coat and held it out to Bess. "Here," He said, "You're freezing."

She gave him a small, but grateful, smile as she accepted the coat. She put it on, and laughed quietly seeing how big it was on her.

He cracked a grin at her laugh, "Reminds me of college, you'd always forget a jacket."

Elizabeth looked at him, smiling as she said, "I remember. You'd end up letting me borrow yours so I wouldn't get sick."

Conrad smiled fondly, "Not much has changed then."

"Hey!" She defended, "I wasn't expecting to go outside for long!"

He chuckled softly, but didn't reply. Instead looking up at the sky, long past hoping to see a star. There was too much air pollution for that.

Conrad glanced at his watch, it was twenty after two. He heard Bess smother a yawn as they stood there.

"Come on Bess, let's go inside, it's late."

She nodded her head and followed him back inside the Oval Office. They walked quietly into the office, the warm air warming their bodies immediately.

They both walked to the couches in the center of the office Bess went to the one on the left, and Conrad to the one on the right. She stretched out on the couch, her legs dangling off the edge of the couch. The President, surprisingly, followed suit.

"Do you ever regret it, Conrad?" She asked, looking over to him.

He was silent for a moment, "No." He answered, meeting her gaze. "You?"

"There are times," She fell silent.

"Like when?" He prodded.

"Right after Iran, it was difficult for me to come back." Elizabeth admitted, "And when I had Julius stalking me and my family. I almost quit then, it was different when it was just me, but then he came after the kids, and Henry, and I couldn't bear to let them get hurt because of me."

Conrad looked down at her admission, he still felt guilty about Julius and Iran. He had been so dead set on winning he had ignored Bess's advice until it was almost too late.

He waited a second before he began to respond, but before he could say anything the door opened.

He sat up slightly to see who it was, but laid back once he saw Russell.

The White House Chief of Staff didn't notice him or Bess on the couch instead walking up to Conrad's desk and placing a folder on it.

The man looked up for a second and finally noticed them. He looked back and forth between the two, "What is this, a sleepover party?"

Elizabeth laughed and tossed him a pillow, "You're welcome to join us Russell."

He sighed, "Why not?" It wasn't a question.

He dropped the pillow on the ground and slowly laid back until his head was on it.

"What a day," Russell groaned, pocketing his phone.

Conrad glanced at him, "Agreed."

"I can't believe that the plan actually worked." Bess put in, yawning.

Russell hummed his agreement, "He'll find out the truth soon enough."

"I'd hate to be the one to tell him."

The man on the floor snorted, "Me and you both, Bess."

Russell looked over to her, "Have you picked where your next trip will be?"

"Yeah," She answered, "I picked Algeria. Tensions have eased up between us since the General took over, but it could do with a little work."

"You sure Bess? There's still some unrest from the change of power."

"I know. That's one of the main focuses of the trip, to try and calm the people." She told him, glancing over to where he was.

They laid in silence for a moment before Russell spoke again. "What are you doing for the holidays?"

"I'm not sure yet," Elizabeth answered, "It's Henry's turn to pick, so we'll probably visit his family, unfortunately."

His eyebrows rose in surprise, "Don't like your in-laws?"

Bess snorted, "It's the other way around. They literally hate me."

"Especially Marleen." Conrad added.

Elizabeth groaned, "Like I need a reminder."

"That bad?" Russell asked, putting his hands behind his head.

She nodded, "Bad enough that I have officially been dubbed 'Queen Elizabeth'."

"I didn't know I was in the presence of royalty," He mocked, smirking slightly.

"Ah, alas, my great secret had been found. What shall I do now?" She said seriously, her voice not wavering in the least.

Conrad snorted at her remark, "That's a step up from before."

"True," She agreed, "They actually acknowledged me this time"

"I'm so glad that my in laws love me," Russell said, looking up, "It makes my life so much easier."

"I have to agree with Russell, it is easier." Conrad said, looking down at his chief of staff who nodded his head.

"Speaking of the holidays," The President continued, "You figure out what you're getting Jareth?"

She shook her head, "No, I already got him boots, so that's crossed off. I'll probably have Blake help me pick." Elizabeth told them, "But, I figured out what I'm getting you." She said, pointing a finger at Russell.

"Me?" He sound surprised, "What are you getting me?"

"I'm getting you a stuffed panda for your office."

Russell let out a long suffering groan, "Are you ever going to let that go?"

"Nope." She told him, popping the 'p'.

"I'm sorry, you're getting Russell a stuffed panda?" Conrad asked, amused and confused as to why.

Bess grinned and launched into the story. Not leaving a detail out as she recounted the events that happened at the state department.

Soon after they fell asleep where they laid, completely ignoring that it was ridiculously inappropriate for the President, the Secretary of State, and the White House Chief of Staff to be sleeping in the Oval Office. But, if worst came to worst, they could always say they had fallen asleep while working.

Russell, unsurprisingly, was the first to wake, he sent a text to his secretary to bring him a new set of clothes, he couldn't be seen wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

He stretched and popped his back, sleeping on the floor had been a terrible idea.

His secretary knocked quietly on the door like he had requested, with a different black suit, white dress shirt and a blue tie.

Russell went into the room beside the Oval Office and quickly changed into the new suit. He bundled up his old suit, placed it in a bag and handed it to his secretary, who was waiting outside the Office.

By the time he had closed the door to the President's office, Conrad had awoken.

"Good morning, Mr. President." He said softly, mindful of Elizabeth, who was still asleep.

The President stood and stretched his arms, "Morning, Russell."

Conrad walked over to the other side of his office, "I'll be just a moment." He told Russell, presumably going to change into a fresh suit.

A few minutes later the President returned with a navy blue suit and yellow tie, "I'm reminded why I try to avoid staying up so late nowadays." He said, walking over to his desk and looking over the folder on it.

"Likewise, Mr. President." Russell agreed, still keeping his voice down.

Conrad glanced over to a Bess who was sleeping on his couch, and showed no signs of waking soon.

"Let's try and let her get as much sleep as possible, Russell." He told the other man.

"Yes, sir. I'll change the meeting location on your meetings before noon."

They kept up the quiet conversation as they delved into the work on Conrad's desk, Russell had to leave at some point, something about winning a vote.

The President looked at the time and over to Bess, it was nearing noon, and as much as he'd like her to sleep as much as she'd like too, she had to get to work.

He sat the papers down on his desk and stood up, quietly walking over to Elizabeth. Conrad crouched down beside her and laid a gentle hand on her arm.

"Bess," He murmured, as he shook her shoulder slightly. "It's time to wake up."

Her eyes opened slightly, "Conrad?"

"Yeah, it's me." He told her, letting his arm drop.

She yawned, "What time is it?"

"Almost noon." The President answered while she sat up.

Her eyes snapped open, "Noon?" She exclaimed, "I'm late!"

He waved off her apologizes, "It's fine Bess, we all slept late."

She seemed appeased with his answer, "I need to call Blake and have him reschedule the day and to bring me clothes."

Conrad nodded, "Of course. Do you want some coffee or breakfast while you wait?"

"No, thank you." She answered, "If I know Blake he'll already have both with him."

He stood when someone knocked on the door, "Enter," He called.

"Mr. President, Madam Secretary." Blake greeted as he entered the Oval Office.

"Morning Blake," She greeted, looking over to him.

"Good morning, Ma'am," He said as he handed her the bag on his shoulders, "All you meetings have already been moved, Ma'am. And I scheduled a lunch date with your husband at two since you weren't home for long last night."

"Thank you, Blake."

"My pleasure, Ma'am." He replied, opening the door for her to change.

Closing the door, he walked over to the couch and felt around for her phone. His

hand clasped around the thin device and pulled it out from in between the cushions.

Blake stood and popped the back of the phone off and took out the sd card.

He stopped though as the President spoke. "What are you doing?"

Blake looked at him, "Her phone is dead and she needs to be able to receive and make calls. Which is why I brought a spare phone, so this one can charge while she's working." He closed the case on the phone as he finished speaking.

Blake reached for the spare phone in his pocket and popped the case off while he walked over to where Elizabeth was changing. After putting the sd card in the phone and putting the case back on he turned the phone on just as she walked out of the room.

"Blake, will you call my personal hatchet man and tell him that I need to see him sometime today." Bess requested as she took the proffered phone.

"Of course, Ma'am. Would you like the meeting to be in your office or would you prefer somewhere else?" He asked while he walked over to hand her, her breakfast.

She took the coffee and the small box from him, "Surprise me." Elizabeth answered, taking a sip of her coffee.

Blake nodded, "Ma'am, there is someone who has requested you to call him."

She looked up from the box she was opening, "Who?"

"Sam Evans."

Elizabeth groaned, "Didn't you tell him not to call like a month ago?"

"Yes Ma'am, I did." He confirmed.

Conrad narrowed his eyes, "Why is Evans calling you?"

She glanced over to him as she took a scone out from the box, "He's probably trying to get me to accept his job offer."

Conrad's eyebrows shot up, "He offered you a job?" He sounded scandalized.

Shrugging, she answered, "He wants me to be his Secretary of State. And he wants Russell to be his Chief of Staff by the way."

"When did he offer you the job?"

"Seconds before I came back into your office to get you to run as an independent."

Her phone started to ring in the middle of their conversation, "Mike B!" Elizabeth greeted, "You beat my assistant to calling you."

She was silent as the other man talked. After a minute or two, she waved Blake over, who brought her a notepad.

She scribbled something onto the paper and handed it back to him.

Taking it back from her, he read, 'We're leaving in five, have the motorcade ready to drive us to Charleston Street. We're going to meet with Mike B.'

Blake nodded and took out his own phone to make a call to Matt, "Prepare to transport the Secretary to Charleston Street."

"How sure are you?" Elizabeth asked Mike.

She nodded at the reply, "I'll be there in twenty."

After hanging up, she said,"Blake, have Sarah Hopkins wait in the waiting room, and have someone keep an eye on her. She's not allowed to leave the building." She told him, putting her scone back into the box. "And Blake. We're not asking."

"Yes Ma'am." He said, holding out her coat. "You're motorcade is waiting outside."

"Sorry, Mr. President. But I've got to get to work."

"Of course." Conrad replied, as they walked towards the door, "And Bess," He called, "Don't forget what I said last night."

She met his eyes and nodded, "Yes, sir." Bess turned back around and walked out the door, her heart feeling lighter than it had the night before


End file.
